Relocation

EU Relocation should not be confused with resettlement. Relocation within the EU is a tool that allows for the movement of movement of those who requested asylum in one EU Member State to another EU Member State, where their asylum application will be further processed.

Relocation is an intra-EU process through which EU Member States help one another to cope with the pressure on their asylum systems resulting from sudden influxes by relocating persons in need of international protection who have requested asylum. Relocation is an expression of internal EU solidarity and responsibility sharing, particularly with those countries at the external borders of the European Union that are most affected by sudden increases in the arrival of asylum seekers.

IOM provided pre-departure support such as health assessments and pre-departure orientation sessions as well as movement assistance to more than 34,500 persons relocated from Italy and Greece to 25 EU Member and Associated States through the EU-wide emergency relocation scheme, launched in September 2015 and concluded in early 2018.

IOM believes that the experiences of the EU-wide emergency relocation scheme can serve as guidance for the establishment of a future solidarity mechanism, preferably materializing under the new Dublin Regulation and as part of the CEAS reform.

We also believe that the eligibility criteria of EU relocation schemes should be broad enough to allow all categories of vulnerable persons to be included and that the matching of beneficiaries with receiving countries needs to be strengthened to reduce secondary movements.

In this respect, it is also crucial to ensure that family life is preserved when applying the solidarity mechanism and verify family links of unaccompanied children before allocating them to another Member State.